Manly Wade Wellman wrote dozens of stories for Weird Tales but the stories about John Thunstone, battler of the powers of darkness, are my particular favorites. The John Thunstone stories explore voodoo, as in “The Third Cry to Legba,” and curses, demons, black magic, and things that go bump in the night. Many of the Thunstone tales have a Lovecraft twist to them. The Necronomicon shows up in one of the stories, for example. Night Shade Books collected all the John Thunstone stories in Volume One (of Five) of the Collected Stories of Manly Wade Wellman. Later, Wellman wrote two novels about Thunstone and his battle against the forces of darkness: What Dreams May Come (1982) and School of Darkness (1985). Both novels are well worth reading. It goes without saying that the John Thunstone stories from Weird Tales hold up after more than 60 years.
Other FORGOTTEN BOOKS can be found by clicking on the links below. If I’ve inadvertently left you off the list, send me a comment and I’ll make it right. Patti will be doing the SUMMING UP sans the cheerleaders.
Paul Bishop
David Cranmer
Bill Crider
Martin Edwards
Ed Gorman
Randy Johnson
Patrick Lennon
Evan Lewis
Steve Lewis
Todd Mason
James Reasoner
Richard Robinson
Kerrie Smith
Patti Abbott
BV Lawson
le0pard13
I put one up, George. Thanks.
I just linked you, Patti. I love Simenon! Perfect reading material while in Paris.
I haven’t read this but it sounds intriguing.
THE THIRD CRY TO LEGBA is very intriguing, Jeff. I’m reading my way through the five volume COLLECTED STORIES of Manly Wade Wellman…and loving it! The man was a Master of the Supernatural story.
While this isn’t my preferred sub-genre, a story every now and then is enjoyable. I’ll have to keep an eye out for this.
The whole COLLECTED STORIES OF MANLY WADE WELLMAN set published by Night Shade Books in five volumes is terrific, Rick.
Bill, thanks, I think that is it.
Howdy, George! I wasn’t able to get a posting up last Friday, but did manage one today. The John Thunstone stories look interesting — I “devoured” HP Lovecraft as a youngster (gave me nightmares, too).
If you like Lovecraft, you’ll like the John Thunstone stories, BV. Manly Wade Wellman writes a “softer” story than Lovecraft, but they’re just as effective.
As I mentioned last week, I have the Nightshade volume 5 of the Silver John stories. I probably need to find the rest of them.
The John Thunstone stories are collected in Volume One: THE THIRD CRY TO LEGBA, Randy. I’m about to start reading Volume 2. Great stories!
If by “softer” you mean good prose versus HPL’s usually incompetent, and with believable characters vs. HPL’s usual analogs for himself and stock figures, though with frequently no less impressive ideation than HPL’s, I’ll agree, George.
You and I share the same view of “softer” in this case, Todd. Lovecraft’s prose could be manic…and Wellman’s never is.
Yow! Amazing WT cover.
Yes, it’s great WEIRD TALES cover by Virgil Finlay, Evan. The cover on THE THIRD CRY OF LEGBA is a bit bland so I figured I’d jazz things up with this cover.
I find it ironic that Patti is reading Simenon in Paris, but she’s reading one of his American-set titles. I have read THE CLOCKMAKER. Sadly, I have no more Maigrets left to read, though I have dozens of his non series books waiting to draw my attention.
You’re right, Jeff. Quite a few Simenon novels are set in the U.S. I’ve read about half of the Maigrets and probably 50 of Simenon’s non-series novels.
BTW, I put up a forgotten book post today regarding Stephen King’s early novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Thanks, George.
I’ll add you to the roster, leOpard13.